Jostedalsbreen
| Jostedalsbreen | ||
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 Jostedalsbreen |
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| location | Vestland ( Norway ) | |
| Type | Plateau glacier | |
| length | 40 km | |
| surface | 474 km² (2006) | |
| Altitude range | 2008 moh. - 345 moh. | |
| width | Max. 15 km | |
| Ice thickness | Max. 500 m | |
| Coordinates | 61 ° 40 ′ N , 6 ° 59 ′ E | |
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| drainage | various outlet glaciers , drainage, among others, via Nordfjord | |
| particularities | largest continental glacier in Europe | |
The Jostedalsbreen in Norway is the largest European mainland glacier . It is located in the north of the province of Vestland north of the Sognefjord and is about 40 km long in north-east direction and about 15 km wide in south-west direction. The ice layer is up to 500 m thick. The area was 474 km² in 2006. There are larger glaciers in Europe on Iceland , Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya . From the Jostedalsbreen plateau, the ice flows over 28 outlet glaciers in different directions.
description
The glacier is located between 345 and 2008 meters above sea level. A few peaks such as Suphellenipa (1731 m) or Lodalskåpa (2083 m) protrude from the glacier. Its highest point is just over 2000 meters, its mean height is about 1450 meters. Under the ice sheet is a gneiss plateau , the Fjell . The glacier is fed by precipitation and avalanches. Its outflow leads to the Nordfjord and the Sognefjord , among others . Due to the oceanic climate, there are very little temperature fluctuations.
The Jostedalsbreen is not a remnant of the last Ice Age , but was only formed towards the end of the Middle Holocene , when the climate became cooler about 5000 years ago. At that time the firn line was about 400 m higher than it is today. The cooling caused glaciers to form in the region. The coldest period probably lasted from the 16th to the 19th century. The climate was coolest around 1750 (→ Little Ice Age ), and the glaciers in Norway were at their greatest extent. Since then, most of them have shrunk significantly (→ glacier retreat since 1850 ).
Outlet glacier
The most important and well-known outlet glaciers of Jostedalsbreen are the Bøyabreen , the Briksdalsbreen in the west and the Nigardsbreen in the east. The main tongue is considered to be the Bøyabreen. Its glacier ice grows or melts depending on whether the winter brought heavy snowfalls or not. As two photos on the information board at the foot of this glacier show (1880/1890 and 1994), the edge of the tongue has retreated strongly uphill over the course of more than 100 years. It has its highest point at around 1700 moh, the lower edge of the tongue is at around 300 moh. The Bøyabreen is close to the Reichsstraße 5 (Riksvei 5).
The following individually designated outlet glaciers belong to the Jostedalsbreen:
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Glacier museums and national park
There are three museums, Breheimsenteret in Jostetal , Jostedalsbreen Nasjonalparksenter in Oppstryn ( Stryn ) and Norsk bremuseum in Fjærland .
Since 1991 the Jostedalsbreen National Park has existed to protect nature with an area of 1315 km². In addition to the glacier ice, it also includes tree-lined areas.
Trivia
In 1972 a small plane crashed on the Jostedalsbreenplateau, killing the pilot. The plane could not be recovered and in the following years sank completely in snow and ice. The wreck has not surfaced again. Experts suspect the wreckage in Bøyabreen.
Vikingfjord Vodka is made with water from the glacier.
literature
- S. Winkler, N. Haakensen, A. Nesje: Glacial Dynamics in Western Norway - Process and Causes of the Current Glacier Advance . In: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, 141 (1997), pp. 43-63.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Liss M. Andreassen, Solveig H. Winsvold (Ed.): Inventory of Norwegian Glaciers. Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Oslo 2012, ISBN 978-82-410-0826-9 ( online ; PDF; 27.8 MB)
- ↑ a b c d Information board (English, Norwegian) at Bøyabreen; in August 2012
- ↑ a b Jostedalsbreen in the Norwegian Wikipedia
- ↑ Atle Nesje, Jostein Bakke, Svein Olaf Dahl, Øyvind Lie, John A. Matthews: Norwegian mountain glaciers in the past, present and future . In: Global and Planetary Change . 2008, doi : 10.1016 / j.gloplacha.2006.08.004 .